Method for generating combustible gas



Feb. 6, 1934. w. H. HERMSDORF v 1,945,550,

METHOD FOR GENERATING GOMB USTIBLE GAS Filed April 24, 1930 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I fizz/safari 71 1 261655: v ZJczZtrflHen/udoa Feb. 6, 1934. H v w. H. HERMSDORF 1,945,550

METHOD FOR GENERATING COMBUSTIBLE GAS .Filed April 24, 1950 2 Sheets- Sheet 2.

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Patented Febi 6, 1934 I u I u UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD FOR GENEgAsTlNG COMBUSTIBLE A Walter H. Hermsdorf, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by mosne assignments, to S H. G. Incorporated,

Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application April 24, 1930. Serial No. 446,831

. 1 Claim. (01. 48-219) This invention relates to a means and method measuring device. In practice, tank 1 is usually of generating combustible gas by intimately assoburied in the ground and the filler pipe 6 and ciating air under pressure with a combustible conduit 9 extend substantially to the surface of liquid. the ground.

4 One of the important features of my invention An aperture 10 may be provided in the upper 50 comprises separating the main bulk supply of wall of the tank 1 immediately above the gas combustible liquid from the zone in which the compartment 3 and may be normally closed by generated combustible gas is confined or stored plate 11 fastened to said upper wall by screws or pending withdrawal for use, and returning any bolts 12. A receptacle or container 13 may be 10 liquid accumulating in the gas generating or mounied upon the lower surface of the plate 11 B5 storage zone to the main bulk supply of liquid. and may extend downwardly through aperture 10 Briefly described, my invention comprises autointo gas compartment 3. The receptacle 13 may matically passing air under pressure'into the gas contain a suitable quantity of liquid 14, prefergenerating zone until the pressure therein has ably non-inflammable and having comparatively l5 reached a predetermined maximum, permitting high properties of heat-conductibility. A heating the pressure in the gas compartment and liquid unit 15 may be threadedly positioned in the plate compartment to equalize, drawing off gas from 11 and. may depend therefrom into the interior of the gas compartment and thereby decreasing the the container 13, said heating unit preferably pressure therein until said pressure reaches a being energized by electricity conducted thereto predetermined minimum, again automatically through leads 16. 75

building up the pressure in the gas compartment Referring particularly to Figure 2, 17 indicates and simultaneously passing liquid from the liquid a tank divided internally into two compartments compartment to the gas compartment and inti- 18 and 19 by means of' partition wall 20. The mately associating said liquid with the incoming compartment 18 may be utilized to contain a air, thereby generating a combustible gas and quantity of lubricating oil which may be intro-. again building up the pre'ssureinthe gas compartduced therein through inlet opening 21. A platment to said predetermined maximum. Hence, in form 22 may be mounted upon'tank 17 and is the pressure equalization action between the gas adapted to support a conventional blower 23. A compartment pressure and liquid compartment motor 24 may also be mounted upon platform 30 pressure, accumulated liquid in the gas cumpart- 22 and may drive blower 23 by means Of belt. ment may be returnedtosaid liquid compartment. 25. B OW 3 y be provided- W inlet P p ()ther and further important objects of-my in- 26 and discharg p p Said latte! p p vention will be apparent from the accompanying fleeting into the pp Portion of Compartdrawings and following detail description. ment 18. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional eleva- When the motor 24 is in ope a air will 90 tion of apparatus suitable for carrying out my be drawn by blower 23 through intake pipe 26 invention.' and. be discharged therefrom through pipe 27 Figure 2 is a vertical elevational view of the o mpart limherebyestablishingasupefmotor-blower unit and auxiliary equip e t, atmospheric pressure upon the surface of the 50 gas, combustible liquid 5 maybe introduced carried into the blower by the air passing through Referring more in detail to th dr in 1 i lubricating oil contained in said compartment. 9 dicates a tank or receptacle of any desirable or A pip 28 ma extend d w wa d i t p tsuitable dimensions, which may be provided with ment 13 and y be connected at its pp d a partition wall 2, dividing the inner portion to compalatively restricted tube UDOII 6S- therebf into a gas compartment 3 and a liquid tablishing pressure on the surface of the lubricompartment 4. It is to be understood, of course, ti oil in compa t e t 1 a po tion of said that the wall 2 instead of being vertically posioil may be forced up through pipe 28 and tube tioned, as shown, may bedisposed at any angle 9 and ay be divided juncture a P o so long as the receptacle l'is divided into two o a d 011 p ssing downwardly throug compartments, one for liquid and the other for to the intake of the blower 23. This 011 will be in'o the liquid compartment 4 through filler pipe. intake pipe 26 and is ad to lubricate the 6 provided with a suitable closure cap 7. A liquid internal moving elements of said blower. The level gauge 8 may be connected into the liquid quantity of oil passing through leg 31 may be compartment 4 by means of conduit 9 and may readily controlled by screw operated valve 32. 1

take the form of any conventional liquid level T e rem ining portion of the oil may pass do'wn- 10 wardly through leg 33 to hearing 34 and suitably lubricate same.

The compartment 18 may be provided with outlet pipe 35, interposed in which-may be a conventional check valve 36 which is adapted to.

normally open away from. compartment 18. A union 3'7 may be interposed in said line to facilitate the coupling and uncoupling of the pipe structure.

The air passing through pipe may discharge into gas compartment 3 through discharge pipe 38. Said air tends to increase the pressure within compartment 3, and the arrangement may be such that when the pressure in compartment 3 exceeds the pressure in compartment 4, a check valve 39, interposed in transferline 40, which connects compartment 3 and compartment 4, will open and thereby subject liquid 5, contained in compartment 4, to a pressure equal to the pressure in gas compartment 3. Pipe 40 preferably extends to the lower portion of compartment 3 and may be provided at its lower end with a plurality of apertures 41.

A liquid pipe 42 may connect into compartment v4 and may terminate adjacent the lower portion thereof. The opposite end of pipe 42 may extend exterior of tank 1 and may be connected through solenoid valve 43 to liquidpipe 44. The pipe 44 may be connected into gas compartment 3 and may terminate adjacent the outlet pipe 38, the .discharge end thereof being provided with a removable nozzle 45. The construction of valve 43 may be such that it is normally'closed, and may be opened by energizing solenoid 46. i

Upon the introduction of air through pipes 35 and 38 super-atmospheric pressure may be established in zone 3, valve 43 will have opened and if. the pressure within zone 3 exceeds the pressure within zone 4, air will pass through pipe 40, check valve 39 and into compartment 4. Air will also pass through pipe 44, valve 43 and pipe 42. However, due to the restricted di- Zl'he blower will then operate to again introduce air intozone, 3 and inasmuch as the zone 4. is

' which the blower stops.

then under higher pressure than zone 3, liquid will passfrom zone 4. to zone 3 and will admix withthe. air introduced therein. It can readily be seen that at this period the pressure within zone 3 is rapidly increasing from said minimum pressure. While the pressure within zone 4 is slowly decreasing,.a balance of pressures will eventually be reached which is slightly below the maximum at which the blower stops. From this point on tothe period when the maximum pressure is reached, check valve 39 will open and any-liquid accumulation at the bottom of zone 3 will be returned to zone 4untilboth zones reach the maximum predetermined pressure at The gas thus formed may be drawn from compartment 3 through gas outlet pipe 47, which connects at its opposite end into compartment 19 of tank 17. The gas in compartment 19 may be withdrawn therefrom through outlet pipe 48 and maypass through pressure regulator 49 and istent in compartment 3.

not shown. Pressure regulator 49 and flash-back arrestor 50 may be of any suitable conventional may be energized, thereby heating liquid 14 within container 13, which heat may be imparted to the walls of pipe 38. In this manner, the reduction in temperature, due to the rapid vaporization of the liquid 5 issuing from nozzle 45, may-be compensated, and the natural tendency of moisture contained in the incoming air to freeze in pipe 38 adjacent the discharge end thereof will be eliminated.

Upon the gas pressure in compartment 3 building up in excess of the pressure in compartment 4, the check .valve 39 will open, thus subjecting the liquid in compartment 4 to the pressure ex- Simultaneously with the functioning of driving motor 24 and the heating of element 15, the solenoid 46 may be energized, thus opening valve 43 and permitting liquid 5-to pass through pipe 42, opened valve 43, pipe 44, into compartment 3 adjacent the discharge of the air pipe 38.

To accomplish this simultanenous operation of the driving motor, heating unit and solenoidoperated valve, and the electrical connections thereof may all beconnected in parallel or'shunt.

If desired, a pressure operated switch 51 may be connected by means of pipe 52 into compartment 19 and may be adapted to function driving motor 24, heating unit 15 and solenoid 46 whenever the pressure within compartment19, and hence the pressure within compartment 3, falls below a predetermined minimum. The switch 51 may also be adapted to de-energize these'various units when the pressure in compartment 19 reaches a predetermined maximum value. In this manner, automatic operation of the entire system may be brought about.

' The liquid5 may be of a combustible nature, such as gasoline, pentane, benzol, alcohols, or the like, which when intimately mixed with a suitable quantity of air will form a combustible gas. By the provision of the separating wall 2, the gas compartment 3 is isolated from the main body of the combustile liquid 5 and hence will not be exposed to evaporation from said main body of liquid. In this manner, the heat content of the gas produced will be solely dependent upon the quantity of air. and quantity of liquid brought, into contact within the compartment 3, and a combustible gas of constant and unvarying calorific value will result. q

In the event that all of the liquid issuing from nozzle 45 does not evaporate within the compartment 3, the same will accumulate at the lower 1 portion of said compartment and will be forced by the pressure in the compartment through apertures 41, pipe 40, check valve 39 into the liquid compartment 4. Thus it will be substantially impossible for an accumulation of liquid to form in compartment 3, and the possibility of said accumulated liquid passingout through pipe 47 will be negatived.

To prevent moisture from the ground in which the tank 1 may be buried from detrimentallyaffecting the various connections of the instrumentalities disposed above said tank, a casing 53 maybe positioned about said instrumentalities and may be provided with a removable cover 54, casing 53 and cover 54 being preferably watertight.

In initially carrying out my invention, it can be readily seen that the compartments 3 and 4 will be at an equal pressure and valves 39 and 43 will be closed. Upon introducing air into compartment 3, the pressure therein will beraised and simultaneously with the introduction of air therein, valve es will open. Valve 39 will open due to the pressure in compartment 3 rising in value above the pressure in compartment 4, and

hence pressures in both compartments will tend to equalize. Upon the pressure in compartment 3 reaching a predetermined maximum, the introduction of air will automatically cease and valve 43 will simultaneously automatically close. In a relatively short interval thereafter, the pressures in compartments 3 and 4 will equalize and valve 39 will close. The gas in compartment 3 may then be drawn therefrom, thereby reducing the-pressure in said sure reaches a predetermined minimum value.

Itcan readily be observed that due to the fact that the valves 39 and'43 at this period are closed, the pressure in compartment 4 will be maintained at its maximum value while the pressure in compartment 3 is decreasing. After the pressure in compartment3 has been reduced to said minimum value, air will again be automatically introduced into said compartment and simultaneously therewith valve 43 will open, permitting the residual pressure in compartmen 4 to force liquid through pipe 42, valve 43. pipe 44 and into compartment compartment until said pres- A 3 adjacent the outlet of the air pipe 38. In this manner, a combustible gas will be generated in compartment 3, which may be drawn off through gas outlet pipe at and utilized asdesired. Subsequent to this initial charging step, the generation of the gas, as has been hereinbefore described, is carried on cyclically whenever the pressure within compartment 3 decreases below said predetermined value.

It is apparent that herein is provided a method of generating a combustible gas of uniform B. t. u. value; a method which isolates the main body of liquid from the gas generation and storage zone, and eliminates the possibility of liquid accumulating in the gas storage chamber from being conducted to the pointof gas consumption.

I claim as my invention:

A method of generating combustible gas, which comprises maintaining a bulk supply of combustible liquid under pressure in a closed zone, periodically introducing a stream of air under pressure to a separate closed zone normally containing no liquid and contacting a stream oi said liquid and said air stream in said separate closed zone ,to'form a combustible gas, thereby increasing the pressure in 'said separate zone to a predetermined maximum, subjecting the liquid zone to the pressure in said separate zone and substantially equalizing the pressures in both zones, and during said equalization step returning unvaporized liquid under pressure accumulated in said gas generating zone to said liquid zone.

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